25.4.12

But she's gone, arms and legs propelling her forward, eyes set on some distant there, hair flying and curling in the wind of her own motion. She is whirling ever away.

Just one. Promise. You can show me your sass. And she stops, a little girl with all power.

One hand flies to her suddenly jutting hip, her head tilts, her eyes slant and she is 5, 10, 15 standing outside the movie theatre with a gaggle of other naively confident girls learning to push their breasts out while sucking in their bellies.

But now, this tick-tock moment, she is just a little girl in rain boots and too many necklaces and an umbrella though there's no rain. She is 5, 3, 1 toddling away from me to cruise from surface to surface, exploring a world she doesn't know can be dangerous.

The shutter clicks. The stasis falls away and she's off again. Singing and twirling on a trajectory that moves her firmly toward a future this moment can't begin to capture.

So sweet....and glad to know I'm not the only one chasing my children around for "just one picture". Love how you put it...she is 5, 10, 15....5, 3, 1.. It smashes my heart just to think about how fast these moments fly.

I love that you tempt her into standing still with "you can show me your sass." How funny is that?!

Yes, they are always moving around and being them! The older they get, the less adept my iPhone camera is at catching them. Methinks I should carry my heavy duty Digital around with a super-speed shutter just to get a blur-free image every once in a while. !!!

One day she'll look back at ages 4 and 5 and wonder how she didn't break a hip. The sass photos are the only ones she enjoys standing still for. Confession: I also sometimes say, "Work it!" but that makes me feel like a stage mom.

Negotiating for that photo! Stopping them just long enough to capture a drop of their essence. I loved you counting forwards and backwards her age in your head...we do that! Crazy how just one little moment can mean so much!

"But now, this tick-tock moment...She is 5, 3, 1 toddling away from me to cruise from surface to surface, exploring a world she doesn't know can be dangerous." Yes, yes, YES this! Photos are the one way we can travel back in time, to relive those moments that happen so fast and are all too soon forgotten. Thank you for these beautiful words today!